ATHENS, (Reuters) – Greece has asked state agencies to use less air conditioning and install window screens. It also asked them to shut down computers at night to save electricity. This will help reduce the country’s dependence on it.

Since September, Greece has subsidised households to assist with rising power costs and high gas prices. This is in response to the war in Ukraine. Up to 7 billion Euros have been spent by the government in subsidies.

Officials from the government stated that they plan to reduce state energy consumption by 10% over the next few years and at least 30% by 2030 in order to cut costs.

Alexandra Sdoukou (secretary general of the energy ministry) stated that everyone understands the value of simple energy-saving measures. She stated that small behavioral changes can make a big difference in achieving collective success.

In 2020, 212,000 state-owned facilities used electricity in the amount of 596 million Euros. Sdoukou stated that while the consumption is roughly at the same level as 2021 at 5,346 gigawatts, the price is rising to 1.16 Billion euros.

Theodoros Skylakakis, Finance Minister, stated that the conservative government would like to use any state savings made from the most recent project for support of households and businesses.

Under a project called Electro, the government plans to also upgrade state buildings in order to increase their energy efficiency. The government will keep track of state entities’ achievements towards these targets.

The measures of street lighting adjustment, air conditioning reduction, and maintenance were all necessary, but energy crises have made it more urgent, said Interior Minister Makis Voridis.